If there's any team in the NFL that deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's the New York Giants.

This was a group left for dead last December, only to raise the Lombardi Trophy in February. There's a healthy amount of rope that comes with an achievement like that.

Still, let's not sugarcoat how poorly this month has started for Tom Coughlin's team. An inability to close out the Pittsburgh Steelers last week was frustrating. Sunday's whooping by the Cincinnati Bengals was alarming.